Day 9 Challenge: Balcony, Vegetable, Okinawa Miracle!

Today, I was recovering from Oxygen poisoning (see yesterday) and getting thrown off a bull (see Sunday), so my new challenge needed to be pretty easy and close to home. 

In fact, I again looked to my favorite book recently, "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" and decided to create a whole meal completely from what I could grow or make with my own hands. 

The plan had been to make something with the homemade cheese, but we all know how THAT came out. Instead, I made homemade pasta and sauce from what I've been tending to in my garden.  I chose cherry tomatoes, a red pepper, fresh basil, and jalapenos-- such a great feeling to go outside and pluck exactly what I needed.

For the pasta, I used a recipe I found at Pioneer Woman.  To my surprise, it turned out to be surprisingly fast, and I didn't even have a pasta machine! 

Okay, so you're right-- I didn't grow my own wheat to make the flour, or raise my own chickens to hatch eggs, or press olives to make my own olive oil...I owe up to all that.  I know I can't officially claim it's completely homemade.

But how was the final result? Completely satisfying on so many levels...